The minutes of the June 10, 1997, meeting were reviewed. JUDGE MEDD MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AND JUSTICE SANDSTROM SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION PASSED.

Electronic/Digital Signatures

Bob Schaible, DeputySecretary of State, spoke about the technology of electronic/digital signatures. The federal government has been studying this technology for about 5 years and the states of Utah and Washington have been utilizing it for about 2 years. The state of Utah began researching this technology for the judicial system for electronic filings. Both states had to make legislative changes in order to use electronic signatures. The US Postal Service now offers electronic signature as a service for less cost with the same guarantees as mailing a letter.

The two available methods of documenting a signature are the encryption process and PenOp. The Encryption process operates similar to a credit card. A person or business files their name with the Secretary of State or a business that has the Certificate of Authority (CA). The CA then issues a private key to the requester (like a credit card). The private key becomes part of the CA's public keys. The person or business can send a document (i.e., e-mail) and attach the private key to the document. When the receiver opens the document, the private key needs to be verified with the CA's public keys. The security concern with the encryption process is that a private key can be given to anyone. (i.e., a secretary, a family member).

The PenOp method uses the biometric technology which detects a person's signature by the its rhythm patterns. The same process occurs with the PenOp method as the encryption method in that a person files their signature with the CA. As a person sends a document, the signature is attached. Hardware is connected to the PC so the person can physically sign their name. The hardware is similar to what UPS or Federal Express uses to sign your name. When the receiver opens the document, the signature is verified with the CA. Since a signature is hard to forge, the PenOp is more secure then the encryption method.

During the last North Dakota legislative session, Senate Bill 2071 was passed enabling the Secretary of State to promulgate the rules for Electronic/Digital Signatures effective August 1, 1997. A task force has been created to study the technology and applicable laws. Any proposed rules must be effective by May 1, 1998.

21CFR, Chapter 1, Part 11, is a model electronic records and electronic signature that the FDA has promulgated.

House Bill 1034 - Agency Information Technology Planning

Cheri Giesen explained the objectives of HB 1034.

Agencies will develop Information Technology plans.

ISD will develop standards for hardware and software.

ISD will monitor all requests for purchases so that it reflects what is in the agency's plan and meets the standards developed by ISD.

The guidelines for HB 1034 consists of six sections.

Section 1. The Executive Summary, which includes the description of the agency and the services provided by the agency; an overall summary describing the agency's technology plan with goals and objectives defined in short, medium, and long-term time periods; and a brief summary of each project requested.

Section 2. Lists the proposed information technology for new, major enhancement, or continuing projects. A separate set of schedules and project definitions will be completed for each project.

Section 3. Lists current systems or functions and will include the associated projects. For each system, there needs to be a description of the system; goals and objectives for short, medium, and long-range time frames; the outcomes that were achieved; a description of a backup plan, and any statutory requirements.

Section 4. Provides comparison of the current plan to previous plans. This can not be accomplished for the first plan.

Cheri Giesen proposed that two committees be established; one for the Supreme Court and one for the District Courts. The purpose of the committees would be to function as work groups to evaluate what new technologies need to be studied, eliminated, or implemented in the next biennium, then prioritize these technology goals considering the technology budget. The Supreme Court had established a committee in 1993 to study technology needs. The district courts did not have the same formal process. Keithe Nelson said the infrastructure for the district courts is already in place with Ted Gladden's position to get the needs of the district courts and developing a committee would just add to the complexity. The committee agreed to have Ted Gladden responsible for gathering the district's technology needs for the short, medium and long term periods. The CTC will review the plans. The Supreme Court committee established in 1993 will analyze the technology needs for the specified time periods.

UCIS Implementation Plan Update

Cheri Giesen provided a handout of the status of the Judicial Information System Master Plan with the agenda. UCIS training in the NEJD went very well with the 2 day off-site training, followed by a one day on-site training. The same structure is in place for the NWJD.

Byrne Grant Update

The Byrne Grant was finally approved to integrate SAMS, the State's Attorney's Management System, and UCIS. Vision Technology has begun working on the project. The consultant has received a copy of both SAMS and UCIS. He is analyzing the database structure to see what information is transferrable and what database changes will be needed. He interviewed Dean Dahl, the Grand Forks Director of Data Processing, to see the level of integration Grand Forks County has done between the two systems.

Discussion of the Policy on Remote Access and the Internet

The following changes were made to the Remote Access and Internet policy:

Section 1d - the words "a political" were deleted.

The word political means a process of government. ND statute already addresses the topic.

Section 4i2 - the word "romantic" was deleted

A question arose about what constitutes romantic. Does signing "love" to an e-mail fit the criteria for being romantic?

Section 4i3 - the words "or for political or religious causes" were deleted.

ND statute already addresses these topics.

Section 3 - A sentence was added. "In the district, Presiding Judge approval is needed for Remote Access." The reference to non-exempt employees was removed. Judge Leclerc indicated a policy for Remote Access should not apply only to non-exempt employees. The committee agreed.

The last paragraph was reworded. Cheri Giesen indicated there is a need to inform users there are capabilities of measuring and managing Internet and Remote Access usage. This is similar to tracking phone calls. The telephone number and the length of the conversation is recorded. However, the contents cannot be reviewed without legal action. The same holds true with Internet, Remote Access, and E-mail. The intent was to be a deterrent for users to visit unnecessary sites. Justice Sandstrom had a concern that users at the same time need to know that the content of the information will not be intercepted. The paragraph now reads:

"The Judiciary may install software to measure and manage Internet and Remote Access usage. No person may intercept confidential communication except as provided by law."

JUDGE LECLERC MADE A MOTION TO SUBMIT THE POLICY TO THE SUPREME COURT FOR APPROVAL. BECKY ABSEY SECOND THE MOTION. THE MOTION PASSED. Cheri will send the revisions to the committee members. If there are no responses in a week, the policy will be forwarded.

Request for Computer Usage Policy 213 be reviewed.

Judge Jim Vukelic made a request that Policy 213 on Computer Usage be reviewed and modified, if deemed appropriate, to allow personal use of computers. He indicated that the last legislative assembly enacted a statute permitting state legislators to make personal use of the laptops for a fixed fee. Cheri Giesen indicated that the fee was $10/month. Since the members of the committee did not have an opportunity to review the material prior to the meeting, the discussion was tabled until the next meeting. The Office of Attorney General's computer use for non-governmental purpose policy and the misuse of office policy was distributed for reference.

Request for Reviewing the Licenses of CD-Rom Legal Research

Justice Vandewalle has asked the Court Technology Committee to review the licenses of CD-Rom legal research between the districts. Judge Schmalenberger proposed creating a subcommittee of Judge David Nelson, Ted Smith, Ted Gladden and himself to do this review and negotiate with the vendors. The committee approved the creation of the sub-committee.

CTC Five

Justice Sandstrom commented on a break-out session on electronic filing. The presenter addressed the issue of validating signatures on documents. An agency needs to keep in mind the type of validating being done in the manual process. The level of security for an electronic process should not have any more constraints than the manual process. Also, the process of receiving documents via fax can cause more problems, mostly if the original is to be mailed. Sometimes the document is changed from the time it was faxed. So, which one constitutes the legal document?

Judge Medd commented on how the US Bankruptcy Court, District of Kansas, was able to integrate an image system into their existing case system with little effort and time. He has a report with information about the conference and the break-out sessions he attended.

Cheri Giesen commented on the MIS directors meeting where she met many of her peers and established contacts. Many of the directors face the same challenges and are implementing the same technologies. The exhibit booths allowed her to see how certain technologies are being utilized in the court setting.